New warning as smartphone virus spreads via music files

Android phones and tablets are at risk of a bug that can be activated by playing a malicious music or video file.

Mobile security experts from Zimperium discovered the vulnerability, which has been dubbed Stagefright 2.0.

Stagefright was the name given to a bug that affected Android devices earlier in 2015, which was also discovered by Zimperium. It activated via multimedia messages which, when opened, allowed the attacker to take control of the device.

Stagefright 2.0 manifests itself in the way the device processes mp3 or mp4 files. The smartphone user may unwittingly visit a malicious website that contains the file, or be tricked into opening a vulnerable app. The file doesn’t need to be opened – even previewing it could cause the attack, according to Zimperium.

“The vulnerability lies in the processing of metadata within the files, so merely previewing the song or video would trigger the issue,” explains Zimperium in a blog post about its research.

“Since the primary attack vector of MMS has been removed in newer versions of Google’s Hangouts and Messenger apps, the likely attack vector would be via the web browser.”

Zimperium claims every device since 2008 running Android 1.0 is affected. The company notified Google’s Android Security Team of the issue on August 15 and it is currently working on a patch which is due on October 5.

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How to remove your face from Google Street View

Street View cars have cameras mounted on them that capture 360-degree images which let us navigate through their virtual streets for free online or through smartphone apps.

But as well as taking pictures of streets across the world, the Street View cars also capture houses, cars and the faces of passers-by. Personal features like faces, registration plates and house numbers are normally blurred out, but if you’ve spotted yourself or your property on Street View and would rather it was not online, you can ask Google to blur the image by watching the video above and following these simple instructions.

[Related story: Travel back in time with Google Street View]

Step 1: Locate the object you want removed

Go to Google Maps and search the location of the object you want removed in the top left box.

Once the location is found, click the Street View image below.

When Street View has loaded, navigate until the object you wish to blur is in view. Then, click the small Send feedback link in the bottom right of your screen.

[Related story: Google Street View lets you climb Yosemite’s iconic El Capitan from the safety of your PC]

Step 2: Report the object to Google

A new window will load with a smaller version of Street View and some boxes to fill out.

First, align Street View once again so that what you want removed is inside the red box, zooming if necessary using the scroll on a mouse for PC.

Below, fill out the boxes stating what you would like to blur out – you don’t need to fill out the Report image quality part.

Provide your email address so Google can inform you when the image has been blurred out and tick the reCAPTCHA verification, followed by the blue Submit button.

Then you’ll have to wait for Google to approve your request.

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How to use Google Street View

The surface of the Earth is 509 million square kilometres – but unfortunately, life is just too short to explore it all.

Thankfully, Google Street View is on hand to show you some of the far corners of the world – all from the comfort of your home, and for free.

Google Street View is a 360-degree explorer service which allows you to navigate around roads, forests and even inside some public spaces, from Buckingham Palace to the Liwa Desert in Abu Dhabi.

To create Street View, Google attaches sophisticated cameras to cars, bikes and backpacks that shoot 360-degree images of their surroundings. To date, these cameras have travelled more than 7 million miles.

The images are then stitched together and uploaded online, where we can all explore through them using our internet browser or the Google Maps app for smartphones and tablets.

Street View is an extension of Google Maps, but it can sometimes be tricky to find. Here we show you how to get started, whether you’re using a computer or a mobile device. Watch our video above to find out more.

[Related story: 7 great tips and tricks for getting more out of Google Maps]

How to use Google Street View on a computer

Step 1: Launch Street View

First, go to Google Maps.

Type in the name of the place you want to look around in the top left box – for example, we visited Trafalgar Square.

In the bottom right corner, you should see a yellow man.

Clicking on the yellow man will turn the roads you are able to explore blue. Blue dots indicate off-road areas you can also look around.

To explore, drag the yellow man to a spot on map and let go.

Step 2: Go exploring

Your view will now change from a map to real photos of the area.

To navigate around, simply click, hold and drag the mouse in the desired direction (or use the arrow keys on your keyboard if you prefer).

An arrow may appear on the ground, which you can click to move forward.

You can also use your mouse’s scroll button to zoom in and out.

Step 3: Go back in time

Google are constantly updating Street View to keep images fresh. But you can also take step back in time and glance at older images as far back as 2007.

If older Street View images are available, you will see a small clock icon in the top left box.

Click on this and use the timeline that appears, with a slider to choose the date you want. Once you’ve decided, click the image above it and explore as normal.

If at any point you want to return to a normal map view, click on back arrow in the top left-hand corner.

How to use Google Street View on a smartphone or tablet

Step 1: Launch Street View

Find the Google Maps app. If you don’t have it already, download it from Google Playfor Android or the App Store for iOS.

Search the location you want to explore in the top box, then tap the right suggestion listed below.

When the map appears, tap and hold on an area until a red pointer appears.

Flick the bottom information box upwards and you should see a Street View image. Click it to explore from your phone or tablet.

Step 2: Go exploring

Use your finger to look around the area and tap the arrows to move in a different direction.

To zoom in and out, do a pinch gesture.

If you want to return to the map view, simply press the Back button on the bottom left of your screen.

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Get free online protection wherever you are

BT Protect is completely free with BT broadband and helps protect you:

• At home when you’re online – you’ll get a warning if you’re about to visit a potentially harmful website or click on an unsafe link
• When you’re away from home – once you’ve got BT Protect turned on, it will automatically work when you sign into any UK BT Wi-fi hotspot using your BT ID
• On all your devices – from PCs and laptops to tablets, iPads, mobiles and smartphones

When activated, BT Protect will protect you online across all your devices at home and when you’re connected to a UK BT Wi-fi hotspot. You don’t need to download any software or change any settings.

Switch on BT Protect today

BT Protect is really easy to switch on – you don’t need to download software or follow a long set-up process. Just click on the link below to log into your ‘My BT’ account and get BT Protect turned on.

Find out more about BT Protect >

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Selling your computer? How to wipe your PC with Windows 10

Getting ready

Step 1: Backup your files

Windows 10 can ‘refresh’ your PC without affecting your documents, but we still recommend backing them up before trying it — just in case.

When you wipe your PC, on the other hand, everything on it is lost, so you’ll need to backup any files and documents you want to keep.

The easiest way to do this is to drag the contents of your Documents folder (and any others you want to save) onto an external storage device, such as a hard drive or USB flash drive. Alternatively, you can use cloud storage — BT Broadband customers get up to 50GB of free space, for example. Copying to and from cloud storage will be much slower than using an external hard drive, however, so think twice before using it for more than a few gigabytes worth of files.

Step 2: Save your software serial numbers

Any installed software will also be lost when you wipe your PC (whichever method you use), so you’ll need to reinstall it afterwards. So review what’s currently installed, and dig out the corresponding install discs and serial numbers.

Most relatively recent software can usually be downloaded, too, but you’ll still need a valid serial number or activation code to use it. If you don’t have these, a free tool likeBelarc Advisor will list all software installed on your PC and any corresponding serial numbers — just click Software Licences in the left of its results windows to see yours.

Step 3: Download any drivers

While Windows 10 should detect all hardware in a relatively new PC and install its own drivers, it’s risky to rely on that happening. If nothing else, you should download the necessary driver for your computer’s Wi-Fi or network adapter, then at least you’ll be able to get online afterwards to download any other drivers you might need.

You’ll need to refer to your computer’s manual or its manufacturer’s web site to see which driver you need — and best sure to save it on a removable drive, not the hard drive you’re about to wipe.

[Related story: WiFi Sense in Windows 10 - Everything you need to know]

Option 1: Reset this PC

Windows 10 has a built-in method for wiping your PC and restoring it to an ‘as new’ state. You can choose to preserve just your personal files or to erase everything, depending on what you need.

Go to Start > Settings > Update & security > Recovery, click Get started and select the appropriate option. Then follow the on-screen instructions to restore Windows 10 to a factory fresh state.

Option 2: Securely format the PC

If you’re selling or giving your PC to someone else, it’s a good idea to securely erase the hard drive before reinstalling Windows 10 to prevent any old data from being recovered. This is rather more involved than Option 1 and the exact steps to reinstall Windows afterwards depend on how Windows 10 was supplied.

If you don’t have a Windows 10 install disc of some sort, you’ll need to follow Steps 1 to 6 of our How to perform a clean installation of Windows 10 guide, but don’t go any further than Step 6 for now.

1. Download DBAN

Whatever these case, once you have a Windows 10 install disc, you’ll then need to download the free DBAN (Darik Boot And Nuke) tool and burn it to a CD.

[Related story: 10 quick fixes for common Windows 10 problems]

2. Boot your PC with the DBAN disc

Boot your PC using the DBAN disc and press the [Enter] key to continue from the first menu screen.

When the main DBAN screen appears, use the [J] and [K] keys to highlight the hard drive partition you want to erase (if there’s more than one) and select it by pressing the [Space bar].

3. Securely erase your hard drive

Then, when you’re ready to proceed, press the [F10] key to begin the secure erase. This will take some time and the process cannot be interrupted.

4. Reinstall Windows 10

When the secure erase has finished and you see a ‘Blancco’ ad, eject the DBAN disc and reset your PC. You can now reinstall Windows 10 by following Steps 7 to 11 in our guide.

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9 amazing time-saving tips for Windows 10

There are usually at least two ways to do anything in Windows — the easy way and the quick way. The easy way is for people who don’t want to spend time getting to know Windows inside and out, and are happy to click through the Start menu to get things done.

The quick way uses keyboard shortcuts and clever right-clicks to jump straight to certain options, but these ‘power user’ tricks are usually hard to stumble upon by accident.

As you might imagine, Windows 10 has more than its fair share of clever shortcuts. Many of the Windows 7 shortcuts still work, but here are nine new ones we find really useful.

[Related story: 12 amazing Windows 7 time-saving tips]

Tip 1: Ask Cortana anything

No Windows 10 user can have overlooked Cortana, but this digital personal assistant can be used for more than just launching apps and finding files by name. You can also type a wide range of requests in the Search box and Cortana will understand what you mean. You can send an email by typing Send an email to <NAME> about <SUBJECT>, for example, or set alarms and reminders without having to open a separate app.

Tip 2: Use the hidden the Start menu

The familiar Start menu has obviously returned in Windows 10 and it can be customised in a wide range of ways. Left-clicking the Start button is only half the story, though. Right-click the Start button and you’ll find another list of shortcuts for the more advanced parts of Windows, which is a much quicker way to get to them.

Tip 3: Arrange windows with Aero Snap

Windows 10 will automatically resize windows when you drag them to the left, right, top, bottom and all four corners of the Desktop — we’ll let you discover what each option does. You can also resize the current window with the keyboard shortcut[Windows] and the four cursor keys, so you don’t need to take your hand off the keyboard. And if you want to hide all windows to show the Desktop, press[Windows] + [D].

Tip 4: Make your monitor much bigger

Windows 10 has built in support for virtual Desktops, which makes it much easier to manage multiple open apps — just move them to their own Desktop until you need them. Press [Windows] + [Tab] to see the default three Desktops and an overview of the apps on each — just hover the mouse pointer over a Desktop at the bottom of the screen to see what it contains.

You can drag apps from Desktop to Desktop here, too, and add more Desktops by clicking the New desktop option. Switch quickly between Desktops by pressing[Windows] + [Ctrl] + [Left/Right cursor key]

Tip 5: Use a more powerful command prompt

If you’ve ever used the Windows Command Prompt for certain advanced tasks, you’ll know what a pain it was to paste anything into it from another window. No more! The usual [Ctrl] + [V] keyboard shortcut now works. Better still, there’s a superior command prompt app called PowerShell (launch it from the Search box) that’s much more powerful — and it looks a lot nicer.

[Related story: How many secrets of the Windows 10 Start menu do you know?]

Tip 6: Record videos of apps with Game DVR

Windows 10 has a built-in app for taking screenshots and even recording video of apps in use. It’s called Game DVR and while it’s intended for recording video of games, it works with any app — so it’s great for making tutorial videos, for example.

Launch Game DVR with the [Windows] + [G] keyboard shortcut, although you may need to start the Xbox app for this to work and be sure to tick the box for Yes, this is a game if asked. You’ll then see a toolbar for capturing video and still images, but you’ll need to read Microsoft’s help page on the app to learn how to use all of its features.

Tip 7: Print to PDF documents

If you’re in the habit of printing web pages when you want to save them, there’s a cheaper (and faster) option in Windows 10. Just start printing a page in the usual way, but choose Microsoft Print to PDF from the Printer drop-down list. This prints the page as a PDF, with all formatting preserved. The option works in any app that can print.

Tip 8: Make your laptop battery last longer

In addition to its usual power management features for laptops running on battery power, Windows 10 also has a Battery saver mode that kicks in whenever mains power is unplugged. Go to Start > Settings > System > Battery saver and you can see which apps are using the most battery power and add apps to the exclusion list, to prevent Windows 10 from limiting their activity when battery power is low.

Tip 9: Make multiple windows more manageable

If you often work with two or more windows open side by side, it’s a pain to have to click each one when you want to scroll through its contents. With Windows 10, you don’t have to. Go to Start > Settings > Devices > Mouse & touchpad and enableScroll inactive windows when I hover over them option. Now you can simply move the mouse over a window to scroll it, without deselecting your current window — so you can even carry on typing in it.

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8 free ways to make Windows 7 faster

Tip 1: Keep it clean

Windows 7 has the same suite of clean-up tools found in earlier versions of Windows to get rid of old unwanted files that waste space and slow down your PC. Using these regularly should keep things running smoothly, so start by opening Computer on the Desktop, right-clicking the icon for your C: drive and selecting Properties.

When the dialog box opens, click the Disk Cleanup button on the General tab and wait while Windows examines your C: drive.

A list of file types will then appear and it’s safe to tick the box for each entry, before clicking the OK button to delete them. Repeat this process for any other hard drive letters in your PC.

Tip 2: Check for hard drive errors

While you’re in the Properties dialog box for your hard drive, also click the Toolstab. Here you’ll see a Check now button that will check your C: drive (or any other) for errors that can affect its normal operation. You may see a message about Windows being unable to check the drive when it’s in use, so click the Schedule disk check button and restart your PC to perform the check

Tip 3: Defrag your hard drives

Hard drives (but not solid-state drives) become ‘fragmented’ with use — parts of files get scattered across the drive and these take time to find and assemble when those files are needed. Defragmenting the drive remedies this and, again, it’s something you should do on a regular basis.

You’ll find a Defragment now button on the same Tools tab of the hard driveProperties dialog box, so click it to start the ‘defrag’ process. This can take some time, but you can carry on using your PC while it’s running. Again, do this for all hard drive letters in your PC.

Tip 4: Switch off Search Indexing

Windows 7 likes to index everything on your hard drive to make it quicker to find when you’re searching for something. If your PC is feeling its age, or you don’t use Search often enough for this to be a concern, switching off this indexing can give Windows 7 a small performance boost.

You’ll find the option on the General tab of the same hard drive Properties dialog opened above. Untick the box for Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed… and then choose Apply changes to drive C:\, subfolders and files on the next dialog box that opens. Click OK and wait while Windows 7 makes the necessary changes. Again, do this for all hard drive letters in your PC.

Tip 5: Check your power plan settings

Windows 7 optimises itself automatically to give the best performance on a laptop, depending on whether it’s on mains or battery power. If you only ever use your laptop plugged in, you might as well opt for high-performance mode all the time to make Windows run that little bit quicker. It won’t hurt to check this setting if you’re using a desktop PC, either.

Open the Start menu, type power plan into the Search box and click Choose a power plan from the list of results. When the Power Options window opens, selectHigh performance from the list of Preferred plans, or if you can’t see it, clickShow additional plans and then select it.

Tip 6: ReadyBoost

ReadyBoost must be one of the least well-known Windows features, but it’s been around since the days of Vista. In short, it lets you use fast (compared to a hard drive, at least) USB flash drive storage to store temporary Windows files and all you need to use it is a drive with at least 256MB of free space.

Just plug the USB flash drive into your PC and select Speed up my system when theAutoPlay dialog box opens.

Then select Dedicate this device to ReadyBoost on the next dialog box (this will erase its contents) and click OK.

You can plug in up to eight drives at once, too, as long as you have enough free USB ports.

Tip 7: Disable the Aero theme

If Windows 7 runs really slow on your PC and you don’t mind losing some of its cosmetic polish, try switching from the default Windows 7 Aero them to a simpler look and feel. To try it, right-click an empty part of the Desktop and choose Personalize.

When the Personalization window opens, find and select Windows 7 Basic in the list of available themes. Or, if you fancy something retro, give Windows Classic a try.

[Related story: Why Windows 10 is superior to Windows 7]

Tip 8: Disable visual effects

You can crank the Windows 7 appearance down still further to wring some extra performance from your PC, but you may not like how it looks. There’s nothing to lose by trying, though.

Right-click the Computer icon on the Desktop and select Properties. When theSystem window opens, click Advanced System Settings on the left and a System Properties dialog box will open.

Click the Advanced tab, then click the Settings button under Performance.

Finally, select the Adjust for best performance option and click OK. If you don’t like the way Windows looks afterwards, revert to the previous setting by choosing Let Windows choose what’s best for my computer in the same dialog box.

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